Lovesick

2020 Holiday Special

L nipped his fingernail. Kya sat a few feet away from him.

All of a sudden, his computer froze. He waited a couple moments. Nothing. He tried turning it off. Nothing.

L grunted. Christmas Day, and my laptop is acting up! How unlucky could this whole year get?

Kya was watching him with a concerned look.

"I-is s-something wrong, R-R-Ryuzaki?" She asked timidly.

"Mm.. my laptop won't move. It's nothing, I can ask Watari to fix it for me." He answered. Then he paused. "I can wait until he gets back from the police headquarters, I suppose."

She went back to staring at her own computer screen, looking like she wanted to say something else. L stood up, patting her shoulder gently and nearly causing her to have a heart attack.

"I'll see you later. I'm going to go find a few of the files to look over. Tell me when Watari gets back." he said, stretching his shoulders. Kya watched him leave, looking back and forth between the detective and his laptop.

Kya bit her lip anxiously, the same way she always did. L wasn't waking up, it seemed, for a very long while, and she had no idea how to cut short his nap.

Staring at his peaceful face, she couldn't help but admire the amount of time he put into this case. It had been only a few days since she'd met him, and it was already obvious that nothing came between him and his work, especially not sleep. He had conked out on the couch the moment he touched it as a result of the three straight days with not a single hour of rest.

Also, as she looked at him with his laptop tucked under her arm, she was prone to noticing the rugged handsomeness of the rather morose young man.

Kyamika shook her head to steel herself, and very slowly and hesitantly reached out her finger to poke his shoulder. A centimeter away from his shirt sleeve, she stopped, trembling like she was walking through a blizzard in a skimpy bathing suit.

She drew her hand back immediately at the thought that he might not want to be awakened, much less by her. Watari, who stood by at his bedroom's doorframe, sagged in disappointment.

This same sequence of actions had been repeated maybe twenty times in the last half hour. It was growing quite tiresome, and it occurred to him to simply wake the detective himself and save the poor woman the misery.

It was a pity, really. She was such a sweet, intelligent girl, and it pained the renowned philanthropist to see her wracked with such bouts of anxiety at the simplest of tasks.

When Watari stepped out to assist Kya, L opened one eye and looked at his case partner, who was too busy staring bleakly at her feet to notice.

"What time is it?" L asked suddenly.

Kya heard his voice and toppled backwards with a high-pitched shriek, a stricken look on her face.

L leapt from his spot on the couch to catch her before her head smacked the coffee table.

She gave another squeak, terrified, mostly of the way his arm wrapped around her waist tightly.

Apparently, he though nothing of it, and released her as soon as she could regain her footing.

"R-R-Ryuz-zaki," she sputtered, "I-I wanted t-to tell you I- th-that I f-fixed-"

"You fixed the problem with my laptop?" he clarified, saving her the trouble of telling him.

She nodded violently, her cheeks going bright red.

"Why, thank you, Miss Kya," he gave her a slight smile. She nodded again breathlessly, opening her mouth and doing her best to yelp out an answer. L cocked his head at her. "Is there something else you'd like to say?"

She blinked back tears after she realized she couldn't coherently respond. "N-n-n- I d-didn't- d-don't-"

L brought a finger to his lips to bite at. "Are you sure?"

"Y-y-y-" was all she could muster.

He shrugged, struggling to conceal a chuckle at the flustered young lady. "I see. Well... Merry Christmas, Kya."

Kya froze, holding out his laptop and looking rather shocked. L took his computer, set it down on the cushions, and awkwardly hugged her shoulders.

It was as much of a surprise to her as it was to him when she whispered, "Merry Christmas, R-Ryuzaki,"

Abruptly, she pulled away from his warm embrace and ran to her room as though she remembered something dreadful.

A moment later she returned, thrusting a wrapped gift towards him and rambling under her breath about how she wasn't sure what to get.

L glanced downwards and took it from her gently. He unwrapped the box without tearing his gaze from her face. At last, his fingertips brushed something like soft flannel.

He finally took a long look at what was in the box.

There was something like a newsboy cap covered with brown plaid, reminiscent of an old detective cap. Next to it was a pocketbook that looked as though the covers were made of chocolate bars.

L couldn't help but let a genuine grin spread across his face.

"Thank you so very much, Kya," he said, lifting the cap and securing it to his head. "I have a gift for you as well, but I believe it can wait until you've joined Watari for a few games, hm?"

She hesitated, blushing like mad. "Wh-what games?"

"Oh, poker, Monopoly, chess... the usuals."

L braced himself for more stammering. "I-I r-really would l-love to, R-Ryuzaki, b-but I really don't want to g-gamble at all-"

He waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, there's no need to worry about that. I'd just like to test your deductive and cognitive skills. If we ever bet anything I assure you it would only be candy or something."

Kya shuffled her feet. "A-ah... I'm afraid y-you won't b-be impressed at all, th-there isn't much t-to test,"

L let out the laugh he had been holding in. "That's quite self-deprecating, Miss Kya, and if it doesn't offend you I'd like to say that it's quite untrue from what I've already seen. Tell me, have you played before?"

She felt compelled to walk with him towards the area next to the balcony, where Watari had set down a poker case. "W-well, my brothers p-played with me a f-few times, and I think i-it's alright-"

"Good, good. Watari and I always play for a couple hours every Christmas Eve, so if you'd like to join us I would appreciate it greatly. Of course if you don't want to it's perfectly alright, it's understandable if someone would rather go to sleep instead while on a work trip."

"N-no, I'd like to... t-to play with you. It s-sounds kind of fun, h-honestly, s-so..." Kya inconspicuously drew her hand away from his, which had swung just a little closer (probably on accident) while he walked. L caught his mistake and slipped his hand into his pocket.

"Well then, I suppose we can get to playing quickly, unless you'd like a refresher." he bit his fingernail, plopping down on the carpet across from Watari. He gestured for her to sit next to him.

"N-no, I'm alright," she smiled. L could tell she was warming up to him again. "I don't believe I have m-much to boast about, b-but I can remember things."

He nodded. "I can tell, however I disagree that you don't have much to boast about: obviously you're very proficient in intelligence areas, according to the profiles of you that I've received."

Watari cleared his throat before Kya could hastily deny L's statement. "Alright, you two, would it kill you to let us begin the game? I have all your chips ready if you could pay attention."

Kya ducked her head, blushing, and L quickly looked at him with his hand in his hair.

"Sorry, Watari," they both said in unison.